The present invention relates to hinge assemblies for pivotally mounting a pivotal member to a base member. The invention is particularly useful in cabinet structures for pivotally mounting a cover to the main cabinet section, and the invention is therefore described below with respect to this application.
Cabinets including a cover or panel pivotally mounted to a main cabinet section are widely used, among many other applications, in the electronics industry for housing the electronic components in a compact and readily-accessible manner for servicing purposes. Frequently, the cover is removed from the cabinet section to provide more convenient access to the components within the cabinet than would be allowed by the pivotal mounting. In the conventional cabinet structures now in use, the hinge assemblies pivotally mounting the cover to the main cabinet section are generally secured by screws or bolts, which must be removed for removing the cover and re-applied for re-attaching the cover. Both the removal operation and the re-attachment operation require the use of tools or considerable manual effort. While the need for tools, or such manual effort, to detach the cover from the main cabinet section generally would not deter the servicing personnel from detaching the cover in order to facilitate access to the components in the cabinet for servicing purposes, the need for such tools and/or manual effort, and the time require to re-apply the cover, do frequently deter the servicing personnel from re-attaching the cover to the main cabinet section, thereby leaving the main cabinet section uncovered. Failure to re-attach the cover section to the main cabinet section could create a hazardous situation with respect to the electrical components within the main cabinet section. Moreover, it could lead to the loss or misplacement of the cover when it is desired to reattach it to the main cabinet section.